Peoples of the Middle East

Ethnic DiversityArabs – SW Asia and North Africa

Speak Arabic Israelis – Israel

JewishTurkic – Turkey and C. Asia

Speak Turkish or other Turkic languagesIranians – Iran

Speak Farsi, Shi’a Islam

Ethnic DiversityAfghans

Many different groupsCaucasians – Caucasus Mts. Between Black &

Caspian Seas50 different national groups Armenia &

Georgia are Christian outliersKurds – split between Iran, Iraq, Turkey and

SyriaLanguage related to Farsi

ResourcesPopulation is clustered near water sourcesThe region is growing rapidly

Too few jobs leads to poverty and migrationUrbanization

Too fast for jobs and housingInfrastructure is overwhelmed